Worship Experience

Worship Experience

What a wonderful event we had last Saturday. Kim Miller brought us great information and inspiration around worship practices and presentation. She shared with us some wonderfully creative and innovative worship designs for both the elements of worship and the physical space in which worship takes place. And while she serves in a setting with significant resources, Kim’s presentation offered us ideas on doing meaningful things on what she calls a “mud-&-spit” budget. It was a good day as we thought about how to create more opportunities for significant “God experiences” in the lives of people already in our congregations and those visiting on any given Sunday.

All of it got me thinking about the work I’ve done as a District Superintendent over almost five years now. As most of you know, I worship in a different church almost every week. And as I do that I have experienced some wonderful worship. Worship that was rich with meaning, clearly thought out and designed, worship that enabled me to easily connect with God. I have experienced as well, what I would describe as good worship. Places where folks offered an opportunity to engage with God, perhaps with some fits and stops here and there, but a good flow overall. Places where it took a bit more work to stay focused, but where there was clearly effort and energy put into offering to God — and the congregation — something worthy and helpful in the Sunday morning experience. But friends, let me be brutally honest, I have also been in some worship services that were just plain sloppy. Clearly little effort had been put into connecting the elements together to provide a cohesive whole. Worship was choppy and full of inside language and activity. Music was bad and no effort was made to improve it. The worship experience was a settling for that which was easy and routine. And again, to be brutally honest, it was painful.

Even in some of our smallest settings, with the least amount of resources, we can pay attention to the details that make worship flow. We can move beyond ourselves and think about the kinds of things that would help visitors connect with God. We can give real time and prayer and energy to what we do on Sunday morning (or perhaps another day of the week), so that when we gather for worship we give our best to God, and we provide the richest opportunity possible for folks to encounter God at a deep level.

Worship is critical to the life of the church. It is the centerpiece of what we do in the midst of a week of work and ministry. It is an act worthy of our best. There are great resources to help us do it better, to learn about what works and doesn’t work in connecting people to God. I want to challenge all of us especially as we approach this year’s celebration of Easter, a huge opportunity to help people connect with God, to offer our absolute best….and then to do it again the week after!

Peace,
Bill

P.S. A few copies of Kim Miller’s books are available for purchase and pick up from the GR District Office following last Saturday’s dynamic workshops (first come, first served). Redesigning Worship and Redesigning Churches are $15 each or the pair for $25, which is well below the publisher’s pricing! Please contact Liz in the GR District Office to reserve your copies today (616.459.4503 or grdistrict@wmcumc.org).

Post navigation

One thought on “Worship Experience”

Bill, I concur with your observations on worship and congregations. Nothing much has changed in 30 years although I was DS and the district just south of you I experienced similar things. I commend your courage to name the issue and support you and dealing with it.